§6.3.13occasio vero et in rebus est cuius est tanta vis, ut saepe adiuti ea non indocti modo, sed etiam rustici salse dicant, et in eo cum quis aliquid dixerit prior.
Opportunity indeed is also in facts, whose force is so great that often, aided by it, not only the unlearned but even rustics speak wittily, and also in this, when someone else has spoken first.
sunt enim longe venustiora omnia in respondendo quam in provocando.
For all things are far more graceful in replying than in provoking.
§6.3.14accedit difficultati, quod eius rei nulla exercitatio est, nulli praeceptores.
It adds to the difficulty that there is no training in this matter, and no teachers.
itaque in conviviis et sermonibus multi dicaces, quia in hoc usu cotidiano proficimus.
Therefore, in banquets and conversations many are witty because we make progress in this daily practice.
oratoria urbanitas rara nec ex arte propria sed ad hanc consuetudinem commodata.
Oratorical urbanity is rare, and not from its own art but adapted to this custom.
§6.3.15nihil autem vetabat et componi materias in hoc idoneas, ut controversiae permixtis salibus fingerentur, vel res proponi singulas ad iuvenum talem exercitationem.
But nothing prevented suitable materials from being composed for this purpose, so that controversies might be fashioned with a mixture of wit, or individual themes proposed for such training of youth.
quin illae ipsae (dicta sunt ac vocantur), §6.3.16quas certis diebus festae licentiae dicere solebamus, si paulum adhibita ratione fingerentur, aut aliquid in his serium quoque esset admixtum, plurimum poterant utilitatis adferre; quae nunc iuvenum vel sibi ludentium exercitatio est.
Nay, those very things (they are and are called "sayings"), which we were accustomed to say on certain days of festive license, if they were fashioned with a little reason applied, or if some serious matter was also mixed in them, could have brought the greatest utility; which now is only an exercise for youth playing by themselves.
§6.3.17pluribus autem nominibus in eadem re vulgo utimur; quae tamen si diducas, suam quandam propriam vim ostendent.
But we commonly use several names for the same thing; which nevertheless, if you distinguish them, will show each their own proper force.
nam et urbanitas dicitur, qua quidem significari video sermonem praeferentem in verbis et sono et usu proprium quendam gustum urbis et sumptam ex conversatione doctorum tacitam eruditionem, denique cui contraria sit rusticitas.
For it is called "urbanity", by which indeed I see is signified a speech presenting in its words, sound, and usage a certain proper taste of the city and a tacit erudition derived from the conversation of the learned, and finally to which "rusticity" is contrary.
venustum esse, §6.3.18quod cum gratia quadam et venere dicatur, apparet.
That "graceful" is that which is spoken with a certain grace and beauty, is apparent.
salsum in consuetudine pro ridiculo tantum accipimus; natura non utique hoc est, quanquam et ridicula oporteat esse salsa.
"Salty" in common usage we accept only for the ridiculous; by nature it is not entirely this, although ridiculous things ought also to be salty.
nam et Cicero omne, quod salsum sit, ait esse Atticorum, non quia sunt maxime ad risum compositi; et Catullus, cum dicit, nulla est in corpore mica salis, non hoc dicit, nihil in corpore eius esse ridiculum.
For Cicero also says that everything that is salty belongs to the Attics, not because they are most adapted to laughter; and Catullus, when he says, "there is not a grain of salt in her body," does not say this, that there is nothing ridiculous in her body.
§6.3.19salsum igitur erit, quod non erit insulsum, velut quoddam simplex orationis condimentum, quod sentitur latente iudicio velut palato, excitatque et a taedio defendit orationem.
Therefore, that will be "salty" which will not be "insipid", like a certain simple seasoning of speech, which is perceived by a latent judgment as if by the palate, and excites and defends the speech from tediousness.
sales enim, ut ille in cibis paulo liberalius aspersus, si tamen non sit immodicus, adfert aliquid propriae voluptatis, ita hi quoque in dicendo habent quiddam, quod nobis faciat audiendi sitim.
For as salt, sprinkled a little more liberally in food, if however it is not immoderate, brings something of its own pleasure, so these also in speaking have something that creates in us a thirst for hearing.
facetum quoque non tantum circa ridicula opinor consistere.
"Witty" also, I think, does not consist only around ridiculous things.
§6.3.20neque enim diceret Horatius, facetum carminis genus natura concessum esse Vergilio.
For Horace would not have said that a witty genre of poetry was granted by nature to Virgil.
decoris hanc magis et excultae cuiusdam elegantiae appellationem puto.
I think this is rather a name for decorum and a certain cultivated elegance.
ideoque in epistolis Cicero haec Bruti refert verba: ne illi sunt pedes faceti ac delicatius ingredienti molles. quod convenit cum illo Horatiano, molle atque facetum Vergilio locum vero accipimus, quod est contrarium serio.
And therefore in his letters Cicero reports these words of Brutus: "Indeed his feet are graceful and soft as he walks rather delicately." Which agrees with that Horatian phrase, "soft and witty to Virgil." But we accept "joke" as that which is contrary to serious.
§6.3.21sed hoc nimis angustum, nam et fingere et terrere et promittere interim iocus est.
But this is too narrow, for to feign, to terrify, and to promise are also sometimes a joke.
dicacitas sine dubio a dicendo, quod est omni generi commune, ducta est, proprie tamen significat sermonem cum risu aliquos incessentem.
"Sarcastic wit" is without doubt derived from "speaking", which is common to every genre, yet properly it signifies speech attacking some with laughter.
ideo Demosthenen urbanum fuisse dicunt, dicacem negant.
Therefore they say Demosthenes was urbane, but deny he was sarcastic.
§6.3.22proprium autem materiae, de qua nunc loquimur, est ridiculum, ideoque haec tota disputatio a Graecis περὶ γελοίου inscribitur.
But proper to the material of which we are now speaking is "the ridiculous", and therefore this whole discussion is inscribed by the Greeks "Concerning the Ridiculous".
eius prima divisio traditur eadem, quae est omnis orationis, ut sit positum in rebus aut in verbis.
Its first division is handed down as the same as that of all speech, namely that it is placed either in facts or in words.
§6.3.23usus autem maxime triplex; aut enim ex aliis risum petimus aut ex nobis aut ex rebus mediis.
But its use is chiefly threefold; for we seek laughter either from others, or from ourselves, or from middle things.
aliena aut reprehendimus aut refutamus aut elevamus aut repercutimus aut eludimus.
We either censure, refute, make light of, retort, or elude things belonging to others.
Nostra ridicule indicamus et, ut verbo Ciceronis utar, dicimus aliqua subabsurda.
Our own things we indicate ridiculously, and, to use a word of Cicero, we say some things that are "sub-absurd".
namque quaedam, quae, si imprudentibus excidant, stulta sunt, si simulamus, §6.3.24venusta creduntur.
For certain things which, if they slipped from the imprudent, would be foolish, if we simulate them, are believed to be graceful.
tertium est genus, ut idem dicit, in decipiendis exspectationibus, dictis aliter accipiendis ceterisque, quae neutram personam contingunt ideoque a me media dicuntur.
The third is the genre, as the same author says, in deceiving expectations, in taking words otherwise, and other things which affect neither person and therefore are called middle by me.